synagogue spotlight
What’s happening at ... Kol Tzedek
Kol Tzedek in West Philadelphia
Looking for New Home
Jarrad Saff ren | Staff Writer
I 24
DECEMBER 29, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Kol Tzedek congregants gather
outdoors for prayer.

lived in West Philly for a long
come back together.

time and people from outside
“Th e pandemic was so isolat-
the city on the Main Line or
ing,” he said.

in South Jersey. Th ey bring a
Starting in January, though,
range of incomes to the table
Fornari will be isolating him-
“from basically impoverished
self for six months with a sab-
to well-off ,” said Segal.

batical. Th e congregation is
Congregants in
the allowing its 40-year-old rabbi,
Reconstructionist community
who has worked tirelessly to
also do not want to purchase a
help grow the congregation for
Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari
space and wall themselves off
the past seven years, his own
from the rest of the neighbor-
shmita year for release and
hood. As Segal explained it, “We want a space we can regeneration. Fornari plans to tend to his body with
share with the community.”
exercise and yoga and to his mind with four weeks
“We’re conscious of our role in gentrifi cation in of silent meditation. He is also going to dive deep
West Philly,” she added. “We want to make sure we’re into Maimonides’ medieval text “Mishneh Torah,”
not going to do something that will drive them out.” or “Hilchot Teshuvah,” a book about “how to repair
All Kol Tzedek members are looking for, according harm,” as Fornari explained it.

to the founding member, is to no longer have to drag
Th e rabbi hopes to translate the text into a book of
in an air-conditioner unit through the window for his own and use the lessons to inform his rabbinate
High Holiday services in the fall. As well as to no lon- upon his return to Kol Tzedek in July.

ger have to wear scarves and mittens during services
“Change and transformation are not only possible
in the winter.

but a constant part of the world,” he said. “We’re liv-
A community that gained 100 new members during ing in a time where there’s a lot of feeling we need to
the pandemic would simply like to gather comfort- do and repair to stay in relationship with our family,
ably. As Fornari explained, Kol Tzedek, like many our friends, our community.” JE
synagogues, developed online prayer and learning
experiences during COVID. But congregants need to jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of Kol Tzedek
n 5783, and in the seventh year under its second
religious leader, Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari, Kol Tzedek
in West Philadelphia has about 370 households
in its congregation. What started as a “simple cha-
vurah,” as a 2016 Jewish Exponent article put it, in
the apartment of founder Rabbi Lauren Grabelle
Hermann in 2002 has grown into a Reconstructionist
community that rivals some of its Reform, suburban
contemporaries in size.

Th e community grew from that “simple chavurah”
to 140 households by the time of Grabelle Hermann’s
departure in 2016. And under Fornari, it has more
than doubled. About 90% of those congregants live in
Philadelphia, and around 60% walk to the shul.

Th erefore, it’s time to fi nd a permanent home,
according to synagogue leaders.

As a fundraising campaign on Kol Tzedek’s web-
site explains, “5783 marks the 18th anniversary” of
the synagogue. And the number 18 corresponds to
“chai,” or “life.” So to keep the temple alive and thriv-
ing, the Reconstructionist community is starting a
grassroots eff ort to raise $360,000. If collected, that
money will go towards a new physical space that the
synagogue will either purchase or rent.

At the moment, the temple shares a space with
Calvary United Methodist Church, and the building
is aging. Kol Tzedek needs wheelchair accessibility,
heating in the winter, air conditioning in the sum-
mer, proper ventilation and bathrooms that work
on a consistent basis, according to Naomi Segal, a
founding member.

“We have none of that at Cavalry,” she said. “It’s
just an old, beat-up building.”
To help fi nd a new, robust home, Kol Tzedek lead-
ers are asking members to donate in the symbolic
multiple of 18. Th at could mean $18, $18,000 or
$180,000, according to the website page about the
campaign. But any amount will help.

Th e synagogue wants to remain in its Cedar Park
neighborhood so congregants can continue to walk
to temple activities. But real estate in the area is
expensive, so renting may be the best bet, according
to Segal, who went as far as to say that “nobody wants
us to own or build.”
“It’s a money trap. We’ve watched other syna-
gogues collapse, or almost collapse, from fi nancial
issues,” she added. “We don’t want that.”
Segal also does not believe that Kol Tzedek can
raise the millions of dollars that it will likely take
to buy a building in Cedar Park. Th e synagogue’s
membership is a mix of students, people who have



d’var torah
Prayerful Engagement
By Rabbi Nathan Martin
T Parshat Vayigash
his week’s parshah brings the
Joseph saga to its dramatic
resolution. Judah pleads with
Joseph to imprison himself rather than
his brother Benjamin, whom he had
pledged to bring home safely from
Egypt (See Genesis 44).

Something about Judah’s behavior
breaks open Joseph’s heart leading
Joseph, in an act of cathartic healing,
to cry and wail and then reveal his true
identity to his brothers.

Th is compact section of our story
speaks volumes about the human
potential for growth and transforma-
tion. Judah takes full responsibility
for his pledge of keeping his brother
safe, and Joseph is able to move away
R. Yehuda — one in which we engage
a situation and expect confl ict. While
this approach can be instrumental in
the struggle for change, it is not partic-
ularly transformational.

Judah’s second approach towards
compromise, put forth by R. Nehemia,
is more of a movement towards the
art of the possible; it suggests the idea
of not having to surrender one’s core
values but allowing a certain fl exibility
in service of a greater goal. In times of
political deadlock, fi nding paths for-
ward that help us to put aside core
diff erences toward the greater good are
important ways of cultivating a greater
sense of common purpose with each
other. But I fi nd the most intriguing teach-
ing of the midrash to be the position
of the rabbis who said that Judah’s
approach was an approach to prayer.

this person is standing before me. May
the suff ering he is experiencing to
cause him to lash out be eased.”
I am sure that you can expand upon
Judah’s inner prayer as well.

It is this third approach that seems
to be the one that leads to the most
transformation. As we continue to face challenges in
our lives, perhaps it is the call of the
rabbis in our midrash that off ers the
promise of growth. Judah’s approach is
perhaps modeling for us the question of
how can we cultivate a spiritual aware-
ness in our lives that centers openness,
humility and a call for compassion,
even if the face of irrational behavior.

Th is may not always be possible —
sometimes, change needs to be fought
for — but this approach could ulti-
mately lead to deeper transformation.

May we be inspired and fi nd ways to
emulate Judah’s prayerful approach to
confl ict in the year ahead, and trans-
form ourselves and each other. JE
Nathan Martin serves as the associate
rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel of
Media and is also the board chair of
Pennsylvania Interfaith Power and Light,
an organization dedicated to mobilizing
people of faith to take bold and just
action on climate change. Th e Board of
Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia is proud
to provide diverse perspectives on Torah
commentary for the Jewish Exponent.

Th e opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not refl ect
the view of the Board of Rabbis.

These past six years have been a
particularly politically confl ictual
period in our country’s history.

from a path of revenge towards one of
compassion. In a careful reading of the fi rst three
words of this portion, “and Judah
approached,” the midrash suggests that
Judah’s approach had diff erent possible
motivations: “ ‘And Judah approached’
R. Yehuda said it was an approach
to war … R. Nehemia says it was an
approach to compromise … and the
rabbis said it was an approach to prayer
(Genesis Rabbah 93,6).”
I fi nd this midrashic read a helpful
perspective for us today. Th ese past six
years have been a particularly politi-
cally confl ictual period in our coun-
try’s history. Th e growth of hate speech
and the siloing of online conversations
among those who share similar beliefs
and perspectives has led to a lack of
tolerance and understanding across the
political spectrum.

Th is political deadlock and con-
fl ict echo the fi rst stance of Yehuda’s
understood approach articulated by
At fi rst, this seems misplaced; is the
middle of a power struggle between the
brothers a time for prayer?
My local colleague and teacher,
Reconstructionist Rabbi Jacob Staub,
when writing about prayer, does not
see prayer as a petition to a higher
power but rather as a path that “allows
us to center our focus, to look inward,
to be elevated beyond our individ-
ual concerns,” where ultimately “the
answer to our prayers comes not from
a supernatural God but from our own
transformed hearts.”
What if this is the action Judah was
engaged with? What if Judah, under-
neath his words, was praying for his
own repair, in the form of: “I don’t have
all the answers for why this confl ict is
happening, but please give me wisdom,
patience, and an open mind and heart
to see a path forward.”
And what if he was praying for
Joseph’s healing as well, in the form
of: “I can see how distressed and angry
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